1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to attack-resistant panes (see DEFINITIONS section) and to barriers (see DEFINITIONS section) and unanchored barriers (see DEFINITIONS section).
2. Description of the Related Art
Attack-resistant panes are conventional. An attack resistant pane may be ballistic resistant, blast resistant, or both. The degree of ballistic resistance is sometimes rated under one of the following standards: (i) “Ballistic Resistant Protective Materials NIJ Standard 0108.01” by the National Institute of Justice of the U.S. Department of Justice (published at http:///www.eeel.nist.gov/oles/Publications/NIJ-0108.01.pdf as of May 3, 2008 and herein incorporated by reference); and (ii) “Bullet-resisting Equipment UL 752” by Underwriters' Laboratories (published at http://ulstandardinfonet.ul.com/scopes/scopes.asp?fn=0752.html as of May 3, 2008 and herein incorporated by reference). The degree of blast resistance is sometimes rated under the following standard: GSA Testing Standard (published at the following websites (i) http://www.govsupply.com/Products/GSATest.cfm; (ii) http://www.govsupply.com/Docs/TestReports/GSATestingStandardMemorandum.pdf; and (iii) http://www.govsupply.com/Docs/TestReports/GSATestingStandard.pdf as of May 3, 2008 and are herein incorporated by reference.) It is noted that these standards of ballistic resistance and blast resistance are applicable not just to attack resistant panes, but more broadly to any attack resistant panel, such as an opaque panel. Conventionally, attack resistant panes are made of acrylic or glass, often reinforced with polycarbonate. Conventionally, attack resistant panes are usually a couple inches thick, but may be thinner depending on material used, degree of blast resistance required, degree of ballistic resistance desired and application. Conventional applications of attack resistant panes include external windows of buildings, internal windows of buildings and military vehicle windows.
Barriers and unanchored barriers are conventional. For example, one well known type of barrier, commonly used to direct vehicular traffic flow, is called a Jersey barrier. One conventional anchored barrier is the security bollard.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,104,720 (“Humphries 1”) discloses a traffic noise barrier including a longitudinal barrier portion and panels. The panels may be made of a transparent material, such as PARAGLASS SOUNDSTOP acrylic sheet available from CYRO Industries. The transparent panels of the barrier of Humphries 1 are not disclosed to be attack-resistant.
US published patent application 2004/0255769 (“Drackett”) discloses a mobile personal gunfire shield. The Drackett shield is attack-resistant, but it is not a barrier.
US published patent application 2005/0265780 (“Humphries 2”) discloses a crashworthy traffic noise barrier including a longitudinal barrier portion, upstanding posts, longitudinal beams and panels. The panels may be reinforced with plastic threads, walls or net, and are designed to remain attached to the barrier, even in the event of a crash. The panels may be made of a transparent material, such as a cast acrylic glass panel with embedded plastic threads. The transparent panels of the barrier of Humphries 2 are not disclosed to be attack-resistant.
Description of the Related Art Section Disclaimer: To the extent that specific publications are discussed above in this Description of the Related Art Section, these discussions should not be taken as an admission that the discussed publications (for example, published patents) are prior art for patent law purposes. For example, some or all of the discussed publications may not be sufficiently early in time, may not reflect subject matter developed early enough in time and/or may not be sufficiently enabling so as to amount to prior art for patent law purposes. To the extent that specific publications are discussed above in this Description of the Related Art Section, they are all hereby incorporated by reference into this document in their respective entirety(ies).